Chapter 2: Lingering Still
A few months have past since that fuzzy night. Big Mac was unable to remember anything else from that night and if Rainbow Dash remembered anything, she didn’t share the information with the stallion. Life seemed to move on as if nothing had happened. However, the questions that the stallion had about that night were lingering with him still.
As for the relationship between the two ponies in question, the events of what they could recall were kept as a silent secret between them. With applebucking season in full swing, the two ponies never really got much time to interact with each other, much less talk. Rainbow Dash would often give a small, warm smile to the red stallion every so often which Big Mac would return, but nothing more than that. For the two ponies, the mysterious night seemed to have just disappeared in the past and didn’t have much consequence. The only thing he wished Big Mac knew about the night was what exactly happened.
It was the tail end of applebucking season on the farm and the Apple family was struggling to end the season on a strong note. While they were blessed to have a bountiful crop of apples come in, they lacked the necessary horsepower to get it all bucked and barreled up. It was because of this that Applejack asked her friends for some help. Lending a helping hoof, they were more than happy to oblige. With Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie helping Applejack with the bucking of one section of the farm, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were to help Big Mac with the other.
After bucking the trees in their section and filling up the carts, each pony started to pull their cart back to the barn. With Fluttershy and Rarity getting a head start, Big Mac was left behind with Rainbow Dash.
Big Mac watched as Rainbow was having difficulty attaching the cart to herself.
Dash took notice she was being observed, “Do ya like to watch ponies put stuff on? Most stallions rather watch mares take things off,” she joked.
The stallion was caught off guard by the comment and lightly blushed, “Wha? N-No, it ain’t like that….”
“I’m just messing with ya, Big Mac,” Rainbow said as she tightened the last strap around her body. She winced in pain, but she tried her best to hide it.
“Heh, right….” Big Mac replied, still flustered by the comment.
With the cart attached to her, the blue pegasus started to pull. It took a bit to get the cart moving, but Rainbow finally got it to budge and the two ponies started back towards the barn along the dirt path.
“Ya know, this is the first time we really spent any time together since the bar,” Big Mac spoke up.
Rainbow replied, “Hey, you’re right. Dang, how long ago was that? Two, three months?”
“Somethin’ like that,” Big Mac said.
“Huh, felt more than that,” Dash commented, “We should try to hang out more. That was fun night….despite that we really can’t remember part of it.”
“Ya wanna hang out?”
“Totally! When you’re not dealing with farm stuff and whatever,” Rainbow answered.
Big Mac smiled, “Alright, ah’d be happy ta hang out with ya.” The words seemed a little weird for the stallion to say, but he didn’t mind.
Rainbow nodded, “Awesome! I’ll let ya know when I can do something like that agai-“ The pegasus paused mid sentence as well as in her stride. She raised her hoof up to her underbelly and grasped it tightly. Letting out a painful moan, she struggled to stand.
“Miss Rainbow Dash, are ya okay?” Big Mac stopped and watched on concernedly.
She didn’t reply right away. Her eyes were tightly shut and she gritted her teeth. She managed to speak, “Y-Yeah….I’m fine….” She was obviously lying.
Quickly, Big Mac unhooked himself from his cart and hurried to Dash’s aid. Despite her objections, the stallion took the straps off the blue mare as not to restrain her anymore. The pain continued to persist and so did Dash’s cries of agony. Not wanting to wait to see what might be the problem, Big Mac lifted Rainbow Dash on to his back and galloped at full speed toward Ponyville for help.
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It was later in the day, with all of the ponies waiting for an update on their friend’s condition. Applejack had already more or less chewed Big Mac out for answers of what it could be, but it was obvious that there was nothing out of the ordinary with working around the farm. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of the waiting room was one of concern.
Big Mac was also in the waiting room, too worried even go back to work on the farm after what happened. Instead, he had to know what was going on, just like the rest of Rainbow’s comrades. He looked around the waiting room. The walls seemed plain save for the windows and the few pictures that dotted the room. The seats took up most of the room, which were all filled by those waiting for answers to what happened to Rainbow Dash. The medicinal smell bothered Big Mac’s nose, causing him to shake each time he breathed it in. The only real sound in the room was the chattering by the mares in the room with Big Mac. He didn’t mind it so much, partly since he shared their concern for the blue pegasus.
The conversations came to a sudden halt when the double doors were opened and Nurse Redheart trotted through. Everypony stood up and hurried over to meet her. A little surprised with the sudden swarm of questions from all of them, she backed away slightly.
“Calm down, calm down. I’ll happily answer your questions, but one at a time please,” the nurse instructed.
Twilight Sparkle was the first to speak up, “Will Rainbow Dash be okay?”
Nurse Redheart smiled, “Oh, yes, she’s doing perfectly fine.”
“Thank goodness,” Fluttershy commented in her meek voice.
“Jus’ what in tarnation happened?” Applejack asked.
“It’s nothing serious. Just some normal cramping and some mild back pain,” the nurse said.
“Normal?” Rarity raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, it’s all completely normal for a pony like her to have those symptoms,” the white mare explained.
“Ah don’t get it….” Applejack said.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention that the baby is also doing just fine,” Nurse Redheart smiled.
“Baby?” Twilight added, “Wait a minute, are you saying….”
The nurse was a bit surprised, but continued speaking with a warm smile on her face, “You didn’t know? Well, you’re friend Rainbow Dash is pregnant.”
“Pregnant?!” they all exclaimed in unison.